Jeffrey Melvin Hill, 57, Urbana, formerly of Mason, Ohio, Butzbach, Germany, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands, died with family by his side on Friday, January 30, 2015 at the Champaign County Nursing Home.

Jeff was born February 15, 1957 the youngest child and only son of Melvin and Frances Mann Hill. Jeff was friendly, open, gracious, kind, compassionate, and genuinely concerned about others - a gentle gentleman gone too soon.

Jeff attended Leal Grade School and Urbana Junior High. Growing up next to Carle Park in Urbana during the 1960's in the shadow of Lorado Taft's Lincoln statue, Jeff developed a curiosity about politics and history that would shape the rest of his life.

Jeff's father Melvin played and coached basketball and Jeff was destined to play the game. He played at Urbana Junior High, Chatham High School, Indian Hill High School in Cincinnati, Centre College in Danville, KY, and wherever he could find some competition. One of the highlights of his Amsterdam years was getting to coach an intramural league team of lanky Dutch soccer players who developed into a winning basketball team. And, no matter where he was, he was an Illini fan.

After graduating from Centre College, Jeff and his buddy Dean Langdon headed to Europe for a brief trip. Jeff stayed for eleven years. A true romantic, Jeff rode trains at night on an inter-rail pass, until he had his first paycheck and could rent an apartment. During his time in Germany Jeff worked as a civilian employee on a US base as a librarian and a teacher. Back in the states, Jeff was a systems testing coordinator for the Financial and Credit Services division of Federated Department Stores in Mason, Ohio.

During his early years in Germany, Jeff worked for an American ex-GI who owned a local filling station. Jeff's boss loved to share stories of Elvis Presley's military service in Germany and the interactions Elvis had with the locals. These stories, along with Jeff's passion for history and love of Europe, eventually led him to complete a master's degree in American history at the University of Amsterdam with his thesis work focusing on Elvis's years in Germany.

If you know John Prine's songs, you may know about Jesus and the missing years. Well that's kind of how the family felt about Jeff. What was he really up to over there in Paris and Amsterdam? Jeff was a tall man, a big guy but he was not someone who filled the room. He was someone who observed from the edges. It was his quiet, watchful nature that led to the cloud of espionage that looms large and of which we will never know all the details. Just suffice it to say, that Jeff (aka Citizen Hill) was a real spy catcher.

As the greatest fighter of all time was greeting adoring fans on the street in Cincinnati, Muhammad Ali looked up and pointed at Jeff standing in the back of the crowd. As only Ali could do, he jokingly taunted Jeff, asking if Jeff had called him a name, and challenged Jeff to fisticuffs. Jeff blushed, put his hands up to surrender, and reassured the Champ that he had no desire to take away the great one's crown.

No remembrances of Jeff would be complete without talking about his love for horse racing. He loved the color, the pageantry, the horses, the jockeys, and the odds. From the first time he sold mint juleps at the Kentucky Derby, racing was in his blood. Jeff was diagnosed with stage 4 laryngeal cancer in July of 2011. After surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, Jeff was in remission until early 2013 when he learned that the cancer had metastasized to his lungs. At that time, he was told that the plan was to keep ahead of the disease but that eventually the disease would take over. The prognosis was six to nine months with two years being a long shot. He got the two years hoped for and they were good years.

Jeff received excellent treatment from his oncologist Ronnie Luyun and radiologist Kalika Sarma. Both of these men are excellent doctors, but more than that, they are compassionate human beings. The one request Jeff had was that the landing be a soft one and that is what he got.

Jeff is survived by his sisters, Pamela, Amador City, CA, Cloydia (Rick Larimore), Urbana, and Sheryl (Rob Van Kirk), Ashton, ID; his favorite niece Rachel Larimore of Midland, MI, his "hoops" nephew Charles Bell of Evansville, IN, his aunt Omega Trexler, Karnak, IL, and numerous cousins.

Jeff was especially grateful for his extended Larimore family who embraced their "in-law" with open arms, warm hearth, and generous hearts. Jeff was a private, independent spirit who cherished his solitude. Family and friends were important to Jeff. Phone calls and visits with several close and dearly beloved friends, including Mary McKee Hunt, Craig Elsass, Sabine Lovett, Ralph Freidrich, Julie Lockhart, Sarah Nemeth, Jim Barnett, Jordie Morrow, Mike Larimore, Stuart Martin, and Sally Duncan, enriched his final months, days and hours.

The family wishes to thank everyone at the Carle Cancer Center, Carle Hospice, and the amazing professionals at Champaign County Nursing Home who gave Jeff such loving care and respect.

Renner-Wikoff Chapel and Crematory has completed cremation. Condolences may be expressed online at www.renner-wikoffchapel.com. Celebrations of Jeff's life will continue throughout the year as the people he loved return his remains to the places he loved.